Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes

My friend Jane Ann made this cheesy potato casserole the other day. Her department was having a special lunch at work, and this was a side dish she made for the meal. So I took some photos of it and then, of course, I had to eat it…couldn’t let any of this creamy potato cheesiness go to waste! 🙂 It’s a yummy blend of hash browns, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and cheddar cheese, finished off with a crunchy, buttery cornflake topping. You can definitely call this comfort food! It’s very easy to make and Jane Ann found the recipe at Cooks.com. Not only is it great as a side dish for lunch or dinner, it’s perfect for breakfast or brunch…so that gives you plenty of opportunities to try it out!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray a 9×13″ pan or baking dish; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine thawed hash browns with 1/2 cup of the melted butter, pepper, salt, and chopped onion, blending well. Add in the soup and sour cream, then the cheddar cheese, mixing everything well. Spread mixture evenly into a 9×13″ baking dish. Mix remaining 1/4 cup melted butter and the crushed corn flakes together and sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 50 to 60 minutes. Serve hot.

NOTE: Jane Ann said she would have liked a little more seasoning in this, but I liked it just the way it was…so, you may or may not want to use a little more salt and/or pepper to suit your taste.

Thanks, Katie! I use a Canon Rebel XT digital camera–it’s about 5 or 6 years old, and it’s been a great camera for me! I tend to take a lot of shots from different angels to make sure I get one I can use, and using natural light always gives the best color and brightness. So I try to plan ahead and take shots during the day when I can!

I have used this same recipe for many years- However I have a variation you may like. Instead of regular hashbrowns, use Obrien Hashbrowns. You do not have to add the onion and you get more flavor. In addition, use Frosted Flakes instead of Corn Flakes. The Sweet and Salty taste is addictive!!
Connie B.

I can’t seem to be able to make a comment so I’ll just piggyback off your comment. This is the best hash brown casserole I’ve ever eaten. 3rd time making for Valentines dinner. The second time I made it I used light sour cream…. mistake …. I will only use the traditional. 1st time I made it I didn’t have any corn flakes so I hand crushed some Frenchs Crispy Fried onions over it… It is even more incredible with those over it. So that’s what I do now. Thanks for the recipe!

Thanks so much for leaving a comment, Terry! (Sorry you were having some problems with that!) I’m so glad to hear you like this recipe. I like your idea of topping this with the crispy fried onions—I’m a big fan of those! 🙂 Have a great rest of the week!

Hi Emily! I thought about your question, and thought maybe you could substitute mashed potatoes for the hash browns…the texture would be creamier, but I think it would be good. Or slice your potaotes, like you would for a scalloped potato dish, and use that instead of hash browns. I haven’t tried either of those ways myself yet, so if you do give them a try, please let me know!

Those are what we, in UT, call “funeral potatoes” (because they are almost without exception served at funerals in these parts). Whenever my mom would make them just for dinner she’d re-name them “sunshine potatoes”. Yum!

I definitely prefer using dried onion. I also replaced the corn flakes with crushed Lay’s Balsamic Sweet Onion chips for a little variety. SO good!

I had heard from another friend about the different names for these potatoes, and they mentioned that they often show up at church suppers and potlucks, too! Those Balsamic Sweet Onion Chips sound great for a topping! I haven’t tried that flavor out yet, but I will have to get some!

These are called “funeral potatoes” in Utah as they’re standard fare at every funeral we have. In my family, we don’t like that so we call them sunshine potatoes 🙂 We’re also sensitive to the MSG found in Cream of Chicken soup so you can substitute Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Chicken if you have the same problem.

I love this recipe, been making it for years. If you really want people talking about how good it is, then I suggest replacing half of the sour cream with 1 cup of cream cheese. I promise you that you won’t regret it 🙂

I see that someone else from Utah has already replied about the “funeral potatoes”. The funny thing is that if you called15 people to make them, you would get 15 variations! haha A few other notes: For Emily in Hong Kong, I have either baked my potatoes & grated them, or boiled them, peeled the skins away & then grated them. They are actually moister that way. Also, I always add 1/4-1/2 C of Parmesan cheese to my cornflake topping. SOOOOO…Yummy!

My friend made this dish at Christmas. She told me she had gotten the recipe of Pinterest – I Joined Pinterest Just For This Recipe……… Finally I had time today and I made this dish tonight. My husband loved this dish – Thank You For Sharing

Yes – I love Pinterest and you made me first love it- This site makes me look forward to dinner every night – I have to prepare food for a lot of people every day. I use to be SOOOO stressed about what to cook and always over spent at the grocery store – Now I save money by buying what I need for exactly what I am going to cook – Now I find recipes on here with the yummy pics and I am not stressed anymore about dinner -YEAH !!!

Hi, I’m from the UK and would love to make this recipe but I am unsure about the hash browns you use defrosted. The only frozen hash browns we get are triangular shaped and ready to cook. Are these the same as are used innthis recipe.

Hi Jan,
The hash browns I used were shredded and ready to cook, so your triangular-shaped hash browns should work fine in this recipe. Just thaw them and mix with the other ingredients. Their different shape won’t affect the taste or the overall appearance of the casserole–I’m sure it’ll turn out great! 🙂

I have been using this recipe for years, but my twist to it is I add minced garlic, and the topping is 1-pkg of Ritz Crackers crushed up still in the package and throw this on top and the melted butter. Enjoy.

I too have always used Cream of Celery soup. And i use either southern hashbrowns (the cubed kind) or slice fresh potatoes. I make mine in the crockpot though. On low 6 to 7 hours for fresh pots or about 4ish for hashbrowns.

I made this this morning, but instead of sour cream I substituted Fage total 0 Greek Yogurt (I’m on a Greek Yogurt Kick), it was soo creamy and delicious. I also substituted French Fried Onions in place of the Corn Flakes, because well, I love those things. lol. I’ve had this recipe this way before too and is sooooo amazing! Could never go wrong with Hash Brown Casserole. Yum =)

I used Frenches Dried onions and sprinkled a little garlic on it…It was wonderful..also, I didn’t use hash brown! I had 2 huge baking potato’s left over from a cookout and left the skins on…it was extremely good.

ok even after eating dinner, I want to make the original recipe plus several more ….and don’t have the ingredients on hand (that’s probably a good thing!) .. but will have to get and make at least one!

Maybe I’m missing it but I dont see how many this serves? Its just me and my husband so not sure if I should cut it in half or a third? & thank you I have been looking for this recipe for years! An old old family friend use to make it and called it Jackrabbit potatoes, not sure why 🙂

Hi Laura–thanks for pointing that out! I added a note that it makes about 10 to 12 servings. If it’s just you and your husband, you could halve or fourth the recipe–halving it and making it in an 8×8″ or 9×9″ pan would probably be easiest–they’re always great as leftovers! 🙂

This is in the oven working it’s magic as I type! I used all organic ingredients (to include cream of chicken soup! who knew?!) And half cream cheese half greek yogurt, topped with salt and pepper potato chips! This will pair perfectly with our Easter Ham this afternoon. Thank you for the inspiration! So glad I discovered your blog. -Jessi in North Florida

A friend of my husband’s always makes what they call potato poof. All i know is that it has hashbrowns and frosted flakes and made like a casserole. I am going to give this a try. If this is it, then it took 15 years to find it. She would not share her recipe.

My famiky uses O’Brien hashbrown (the ones with red and green bell peppers already included) to make these! It adds such a depth of flavor! LOVE this recipe! Always a crowd pleaser! I’m actually making them for my in-laws for the first time Christmas day!

This is my family “go to” side with ham. Last Christmas, we actually had some left over. I chopped up the leftover ham and cooked with the potato casserole and a quart of chicken stock. Made a wonderful soup!!!

I love these but I also add a can of Cheddar Cheese soup, makes it even creamier & cheesier, yum
Also I haven’t tried this yet but some people have suggested to use cooked crumbled bacon as the topping in place of the cornflakes

Thank you for the recipe. I might add some fresh garlic as well as diced red roasted peppers for color and chopping some fresh chive or garlic chive on top when serving. I do not use condensed soup because it is processed and make my own by starting with chicken stock and thickening it to produce the same consistency. Thank you for the share and EVERYONE for their tips. Will definitely put some cream cheese in to keep the creamy consistency.

My aunt made this all the time, but she introduced it as Texas Potatoes. When she split from my uncle, I started making it as a kid, going on almost 20 years now. I tweaked it into 3 lbs. frozen hash browns (I use the exact same brand every year), 2 cans of cream of chicken (same brand again each year .. 98% fat free Campbell’s lol), 1 cup onion, 16 oz. sour cream, 2 c. cheese, salt (1tsp.) and pepper (1/4 + 1/8 tsp.). I’ve never poured melted butter and I never thaw the hash browns. I whisk all the liquids separately, then pour that with the hash browns and cheese. I use plastic gloves because it just mixes better by hand and the plastic/rubber gloves keep your hands from freezing. After mixing, I divide the mixture between 2 buttered (I always use butter) 9×13 pans and then I let it sit covered in the fridge overnight before baking, usually mid-afternoon (so it does keep in the fridge prior) because the flavors merry and become even stronger. I bake it without the crushed flakes and then mix crushed flakes (I crush first, then measure 1.5 cups per pan) and butter, bake an additional 15 minutes and serve straight from the oven hot. Both pans go and rarely are there any leftovers. I make it for almost every major holiday. It’s so yummy. When my cousin was diagnosed with a gluten allergy, I tweaked it with GF cream of chicken.